Dr. John R. Rice Refutes Lordship Salvation

Galatians 3:1-2, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

I was recently reading one of Dr. John R. Rice's books titled: “Dr. Rice: Here Are More Questions,” in which he beautifully refutes the heresy of Lordship Salvation. The following is a question submitted to Dr. John R. Rice concerning professed Christians who live in sin:

Dr. John R. Rice

A concerned woman in a church made these comments to Brother Rice:

We have young folks in our church who are supposed to be saved and who giggle and whisper all during church services and who say they 'just hate' church and 'can't stand' to listen to our pastor preach. They attend movies and worldly amusements. I feel that as pastors and Sunday school teachers we do not warn those enough who think they are saved but are not born again. Shouldn't we plead with them to go to the alter again?”

SOURCE: Dr. Rice... Here Are More Questions, by John R. Rice, pg. 76, Sword of the Lord Publishers; ISBN: 0-87398-157-X

The following is Dr. Rice's response to the preceding question...

“Being saved, born again, is one thing; learning to live a consecrated Christian life is an entirely different thing. There is not any way you can judge whether people are born again except as you take their testimony that they have put their trust in Jesus Christ and depended on Him for salvation. Some of these young people indeed may not have been taught to trust in Christ. If they were looking for "an experience," a certain kind of feeling or emotion, then they may have been misled. But if they honestly turned their hearts to Christ and depended on Him for salvation, they were saved.

Now a Christian should live a consecrated Christian life but that does not automatically follow. People who are saved will find, like Paul, "When I would do good, evil is present with me . . . . So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin" (Romans 7:21,25).

Every saved person still has the old carnal nature and often-times has the same kind of temptation he had before. Some people who have truly been born again have a desperate fight to quit tobacco, and some have never seemed to get the victory over that or other bad habits. Some Christians have never learned to trust the Lord enough to bring tithes and offerings, and some have never learned to win souls. When a baby is born, he is not born grown. Being born is one thing; growing is another thing entirely.

So the thing to do is to take for granted that people are saved when they trust Christ for salvation. Then one should set out to teach them to read the Bible daily, to learn to pray about their daily needs, to confess their sins and failures and grow in grace day by day. It is as foolish to expect young Christians to be good Christians by themselves as it is to expect a child, born in the family, to automatically be a great credit to the family without any rearing—whether they are spiritual babes or physical babes. I assure you that unless people are taught to be consecrated Christians, taught to read the Bible and pray, they are not likely to be good Christians, even if they are truly born again.”

SOURCE: Dr. Rice... Here Are More Questions, by John R. Rice, pg. 76,77, Sword of the Lord Publishers; ISBN: 0-87398-157-X.

Dr. Rice is 100% correct: "Being saved, born again, is one thing; learning to live a consecrated Christian life is an entirely different thing." A changed life comes from growing in grace as a result of genuine repentance; and not as a part of saving-faith itself. Salvation is receiving; NOT giving. There are many ministers today, such as John MacArthur, who falsely teach that one's salvation is CONDITIONAL upon the life we live. MacArthur states:

“Submission to the will of God, to Christ’s lordship, and to the guiding of the Spirit is an essential, not an optional, part of saving faith.” (EPHESIANS, p. 249)

“Salvation isn't the result of an intellectual exercise. It comes from a life lived in obedience and service to Christ as revealed in the Scripture; it's the fruit of actions, not intentions. There's no room for passive spectators: words without actions are empty and futile...The life we live, not the words we speak, determines our eternal destiny.” (Hard to Believe, p. 93)

The Word of God calls John MacArthur a liar in Romans 4:5, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Could the Bible be any plainer? The Scriptures speak plainly that we are saved by Jesus' righteousness (Romans 10:3-4; 2nd Corinthians 5:21); and not any self-righteousness of our own (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5). We are sinners; Jesus is the Savior.

John R. Rice is correct: "So the thing to do is to take for granted that people are saved when they trust Christ for salvation." Proponents of the Lordship Salvation heresy expect new believers to live a consecrated Christian life from the get-go of salvation. This is not reasonable nor Biblical. New believers need to be taught and discipled.

Dr. Rice states in his excellent book, Dr. Rice... Here is My Question...

“When you get saved, you get saved not because you deserve it, but because you simply let God save you and because you confess your own poor sinful state and your inability to save yourself.”

SOURCE: Dr. Rice... Here is My Question, by Dr. John R. Rice, pg. 304; 1962, Sword of the Lord Publishers; ISBN: 0-87398-158-8

I couldn't agree more. This is what the Bible teaches. Dr. Rice also states in his Gospel tract, What Must I Do To Be Saved:

“The change in your heart, sinner, is God's part and you may be sure He will attend to that. Your part is to simply believe in Him. Whatever else is necessary in your eternal salvation, the Lord attends to when you trust in Him, or believe in Him.”

SOURCE: What Must I DO To Be Saved, by Dr. John R. Rice

Amen! Dr. Rice is correct. Who are we to judge whether or not a person is sincere. There's a self-righteous group today in our churches, who demand a changed-life as a prerequisite for salvation. This is unbiblical, a heresy, and a perversion of the simple Gospel of Christ Jesus. The thing to do is to take for granted that people are saved when they simply trust Jesus Christ for salvation.